New York Post

TRAGIC LAST TWIST

Pk. Slope kids-slay driver a ‘suicide’

- By LARRY CELONA Additional reporting by Emily Saul and Tamar Lapin tlapin@nypost.com

The out-of-control driver charged with fatally running over two Park Slope toddlers last March, and causing the Broadway actress mom of one of them to lose her unborn child, died Tuesday of an apparent suicide, law-enforcemen­t sources told The Post.

Dorothy Bruns, 44, was found dead in her Staten Island home by a friend late Tuesday afternoon, sources said.

Bottles of prescripti­on pills and an apparent suicide note were found nearby.

Bruns suffered from multiple sclerosis and was prone to seizures. She’d been instructed by doctors not to drive but still got behind the wheel of her Volvo sedan on March 5 and ran through the intersecti­on of Ninth Street near Fifth Avenue, killing Joshua Lew, 1, and Abigail Blumenstei­n, 4.

A baby’s shoe was among the debris scattered in the street at the scene of the horrific crash, and Joshua’s stroller was crushed under the car’s back wheels.

Both of the children’s mothers were also struck, and Abigail’s pregnant mom, Tony-winning star Ruthie Ann Miles, 35, later lost her near-term baby.

The other mom Lauren Lew, 33, tried franticall­y to revive her boy at the scene.

It took about two months after the crash for Bruns to be charged.

Mayor de Blasio lashed out at her, saying she should “never have been allowed to be driving a car” after racking a slew of offenses since 2016, including speeding in school zones and running red lights.

She told cops that she’d suffered a seizure, causing her to lose control of her car at

Her lawyer, David Jacobs, has said that Bruns drove a car for a company called ClearCapti­ons, which aids the hearing impaired and that her doctor gave her a letter “clearing her for regular activities.”

Bruns faced up to 15 years behind bars at trial on charges including manslaught­er and criminally negligent homicide.

While in custody, in June, Bruns was attacked by a fellow inmate, who punched her in the cafeteria on Rikers Island, her attorney said.

She was freed on $75,000 bond in September.

In her last court appearance Oct. 3, she rejected an offer of five to 15 years in jail for manslaught­er.

She was due back in court on Nov. 20.

 ??  ?? HORROR TALE: Seizure-prone Dorothy Bruns, in custody in March, was found dead Tuesday at her home on Staten Island eight months after she lost control of her car in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and plowed into Lauren Lew and son Joshua (inset top) and Ruthie Ann Miles and daughter Abigail (inset bottom), killing both kids.
HORROR TALE: Seizure-prone Dorothy Bruns, in custody in March, was found dead Tuesday at her home on Staten Island eight months after she lost control of her car in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and plowed into Lauren Lew and son Joshua (inset top) and Ruthie Ann Miles and daughter Abigail (inset bottom), killing both kids.

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